


Radio

by autisticblueteam



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Autistic Character, Autistic Character(s), F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-18
Updated: 2016-06-18
Packaged: 2018-07-15 21:38:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7239421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/autisticblueteam/pseuds/autisticblueteam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The away team have been travelling all day and into the night, but at long last they find a place to take a rest for the night. Carolina is able to have some time to herself, and some time to check in on Kimball ahead of the upcoming assault on Crash Site Alpha.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Radio

**Author's Note:**

> This fic literally only came about because of a re-watch of season 13 I did, which reminded me of one of my favourite, most relatable Carolina moments. So naturally I managed to work it into a Kimballina fic.

“Alright people, we finally have cover again so we’re stopping for the night.”

“Oh thank god, Caboose is literally about to fall asleep on me and make me crash into something.”

The two warthogs came to a stop in a sheltered area, surrounded by a thick layer of trees and other natural camouflage that would hopefully protect them from any hostile’s sight. There was currently no reason to think they were being followed, but with things as they were… well, you could never be too careful.

Carolina hopped out of the driver’s seat of the warthog, pulling her helmet off and tucking it under her arm. She blew a few loose strands of hair out of her face as she looked to the others, watching as Tucker helped a very sleepy Caboose unseal his helmet. Almost as soon as it was off Caboose all but flopped down to lay with his head on Tucker’s lap, curling up on his side over the seats and closing his eyes. She saw Tucker jump at first, but then shake his head and pull off his own helmet, then gloves, and lace his fingers into Caboose’s hair.

She looked away after that. Let them have their time alone.

“I’ll take first watch,” She said, looking to Grey.

“Alrighty! I will switch out with you in a couple hours!” Grey replied with a nod, natural curls bouncing with the movement. She gave Carolina what she could only assume was a _playful_ salute, then started to get herself comfortable.

Carolina shook her head at that, though she did chuckle quietly nonetheless. She walked a short distance away from the Warthogs and sat down against the trunk of one of the trees, her helmet on her lap and her knees pulled up. It would be getting colder soon, as nights tended to do so on Chorus; she’d have to rely on her armour to keep her temperature regulated, as always.

“ _We’re probably only going to be able to stay stopped for about six hours,_ ” Epsilon said, his hologram flickering into existence. He’d chosen to project as if he were sitting on her helmet, which got a little amused smile out of her, “ _If we want to get to the temple with enough time to actually, you know, look at shit._ ”

“Six hours is better than nothing,” Carolina shrugged, drumming her fingers against her helmet. The sound was repetitive and reassuring against the background of the silent night.

“ _Well hey listen to that, I bet the old Carolina woulda been all like ‘sleep is for the weak! Blah blah blah training blah blah blah!’_ ” Epsilon said, gesticulating wildly. Carolina raised a brow, giving him a look that was less than amused, and he chuckled awkwardly, “ _You know I’m right!_ ”

Carolina shook her head, feeling her lips twitch into a slight smile despite her attempts to look annoyed, “Don’t make me have you shut down for the night, Epsilon.”

“ _Nah, you wouldn’t do that, C! You’d be lonely without me and my lovely voice to keep you company._ ”

If Epsilon had chosen to project a face tonight he’d be wearing the most obnoxious grin, Carolina knew him well enough to know that. She also knew him well enough to simply roll her eyes at him and give his hologram a poke in the head, which she knew very well he could feel, and rest back against the tree.

“Oh just shut up and dial Kimball’s private channel,” She said, tapping the wireless earpiece in her ear.

“ _Bossy boots._ ”

It was only the fact that he did as she’d asked that saved him from another, half-joking, telling off. She listened as the radio dialled and connected, and whilst she received no immediate greeting she could hear Kimball talking to her soldiers. The thought of saying dirty or teasing things that only Kimball could hear, to make her blush or even stumble over her words, did cross her mind; but instead she decided to behave, simply sitting quietly and listening to the sound of her voice.

She’d save the dirty things for when she was back in Armonia.

She perked up when, after a few minutes, she heard Kimball sigh and the sound of her sitting down. There was a little more fussing, and Carolina chuckled at the quiet curse that slipped out of Kimball.

“Language, General.”

“ _Well hello to you too, Agent_ ,” Kimball replied, amusement in her tone.

Carolina grinned, leaning back against the tree, “I could say the same to you; I’ve been listening to you give orders for the past five minutes. Which isn’t a problem, per say, but listening to orders is only fun when I’m the one being given them, if you catch my drift.”

“ _Well_ , Agent,” Kimball was trying not to laugh, Carolina could hear it in her voice. She smiled at the image of Kimball’s laughing face that appeared in her mind, “ _I suppose I’ll have to make up for that as soon as possible_.”

“I suppose so.”

“ _Okay I am learning so many things I do not want to learn right now,_ ” Epsilon chimed in, making Carolina groan and Kimball laugh.

“ _Hello Epsilon._ ”

“ _Hey General. How’s the preparations for the assault on Crash Site Alpha going?_ ” He asked, folding his arms. He was projected stood atop Carolina’s helmet now, tapping his foot and somehow manging to give Carolina a look.

She dropped her head into her hands, her cheeks a faint red. Kimball, however, still sounded like she was laughing behind her reply.

“ _They’re going fine, even though Wash is currently having to repeat all my orders to the Feds to get them to do anything. We’ll be making our final move tomorrow, as planned,_ ” She said, “ _I’m assuming that you haven’t arrived at the temple yet?_ ”

“No, not yet,” Carolina said, flicking Epsilon’s hologram in an act of petty retaliation for the embarrassment, “We’re taking a break for the night; we should arrive at some point tomorrow morning.”

“ _Then I also assume you’re taking watch, and that’s why you’ve been able to call._ ”

She chuckled, “And your assumption would be correct.”

“ _Well I guess it’s lucky that I took watch for my patrol, also,_ ” Carolina felt her smile grow and a hum come to life in her throat, and she heard Kimball chuckle at the sound, _“How has your day been, Carolina? Your team hasn’t been causing you too many issues, I hope._ ”

“None at all. They’ve been very well behaved, all things considered. Grey can, however, apparently talk for Chorus.”

“ _More than that, she can talk for the entirety of the human race! Seriously I don’t know how she does it, I’ve never known someone who could talk so much. She must just like the sound of her own voice,_ ” Epsilon said, shaking his head.

“You’re one to talk.”

“ _Hey, I’m not as bad as her!_ ”

“Keep telling yourself that, Epsilon. Who was it today who told me to ‘lighten up’ and then proceeded to let me embarrass myself?” Carolina said, raising a brow. Epsilon stopped still, “Exactly.”

Kimball chuckled, “ _Oh now I have to hear this. What did he do? What did_ you _do?_ ”

Epsilon coughed, folding his arms and refusing to talk. Carolina shook her head, keeping her eyes on him with a less than impressed look in her eye, mimicking the way he folded his arms.

“Church encouraged me to, in his words, ‘ _loosen_ _up’_ a little around the others. So taking his advice, I may have uh, made Tucker’s joke−”

“ _Oh my… Carolina you didn’t−?_ ”

Carolina’s eyes narrowed, and Epsilon folded his arms tighter, “I did. Tucker was… less than amused, to say the least. And Epsilon then had the _nerve_ to tell me that was ‘too loose’! As if he hadn’t just told me to loosen up.”

“ _Hey, you can’t blame me for that! I may have told you to loosen up, but I didn’t tell you to do_ that _!_ ” Epsilon protested, throwing his arms in the air, “ _I figured you’d have at least a little sense!_ ”

“Yes, because I’m best known for my _outstanding_ social skills,” Carolina said, her voice dry and her eyes narrowing further. Epsilon huffed.

“ _I understand allistics just as little as you do, Carolina, you cannot lay this on me._ ”

Carolina just stared, “Epsilon. Only one person in this group is allistic.”

“ _I− Well− Shut up._ ”

And with that he shut down, retreating into the back of Carolina’s mind in an act of defiance. Carolina rolled her eyes, a grin splitting her face as Kimball’s muffled laughter reached her. She could see her face in her mind, the laughter lines by her eyes and the way she was no doubt covering her mouth to muffle the noise.

“Finding my misfortune amusing, huh?” She teased.

“ _Just a little bit._ ”

“Nice to know I’m so loved.”

“ _Oh quiet you,_ ” Kimball sounded amused, but her voice was quieter and followed by a sigh, “ _You are, you know that right? Loved, I mean._ ”

Carolina sighed quietly, closing her eyes, “Vanessa…”

“ _I’m being serious, Carolina._ ”

“I know you are,” She took a breath, biting her lip. She brushed her hair behind her ear, her hand settling on her neck, “But I was joking and, well, you know I’m not good with… emotions. Or talking about emotions.”

“ _Then just listen to me, okay? I don’t know how tomorrow is going to go, this assault is a dangerous idea at best and a suicide mission at worst, and I can’t say for sure that I’ll c−_ ”

“ _Don’t_ ,” Carolina snapped. There was a pause, then she sighed, biting her lip, “I… Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap. Just… don’t, Vanessa.”

“ _Carolina, it’s a possibility. I wouldn’t be the first leader of the New Republic to die on the front lines. And, considering Felix is most likely going to be there, and if not him then Locus, then, well…_ ” She trailed off, but the implication was enough to make the silence that followed heavy, and tense.

Carolina found herself digging her teeth hard into her lip, and squeezing her thumbs tight inside her fists. She took a few deep breaths before forcing herself to loosen the pressure of both actions, pressing her head harder against the tree and taking even breaths.

“You’ll be fine, Vanessa. You have Wash, the Reds… Unless you make an effort to put yourself in harm’s way, you will be _fine_ ,” There was silence from Kimball’s end of the line, “Vanessa, I swear to god. If you’re even considering putting yourself in danger then I _swear_ I will contact Wash and tell him and he will have _no_ issues with keeping you from doing so.”

“ _Carolina−_ ”

“I mean it, Kimball. He’s almost certainly awake right now, all it would take is a press of a button to connect to his channel.”

Kimball sighed, “ _I won’t be putting myself in any more danger than necessary, Carolina._ ”

“We both know your idea of necessary is a lot different to what is actually necessary,” Carolina said, voice low. There was another sigh from Kimball.

“ _As is yours._ ”

“We’re not talking about me. I’m not the one about to go out onto a battlefield,” She took a breath, “Please, Vanessa. Don’t get yourself killed. Promise me that you won’t get yourself killed.”

“ _I can’t promise that I won’t die, Carolina._ ”

“That’s not what I asked you to promise.”

There was a sigh, but when Kimball spoke her voice was… soft, empathetic, “ _Alright. Carolina, I promise you that I’m not going to unnecessarily put myself in a position to be killed._ ”

“Thank you.”

“ _You’ll be holding me to that, won’t you?_ ”

Carolina chuckled a little, opening her eyes and looking up at the patches of sky she could see through the trees above her, “Naturally.”

“ _Mm, well I guess I’ll have to keep to it then. I doubt I want a highly trained agent on my tail,_ ” Kimball sounded teasing now, and Carolina felt some of the tension leave her, “ _Thought I suppose said highly trained agent_ might _go easy on me if I told her I love her?_ ”

“Mm, maybe,” Carolina felt herself smile, “Depends on exactly how you told her.”

“ _How about telling her that I love her very much, and that I wish we were back in Armonia, curled up together in bed under warm blankets instead of sitting out in the open dealing with Chorus’ night-time temperatures? And that I’ve come to miss her, when she’s not around. As cheesy as that may seem, and perhaps as… ridiculous as it may seem, after only a couple of months?_ ” Kimball said, both sure and unsure of herself and her words at the same time.

Carolina felt her cheeks flush, warm despite the cold air that was making her face numb; her feet tapped, a low hum grew at the back of her throat.

“That might just do it. She might even… say the same back. If she were able.”

“ _She needn’t worry. I think I understand._ ”

“And she’s glad you do,” Carolina said, chuckling quietly, “Thank you, Vanessa.”

“ _How about we talk about something a little less sombre? What have Captain Tucker and Captain Caboose been up to today? You said they behaved, but…_ ” Kimball said, and Carolina heard the faint sound of armour shifting – a shrug.

“ _Well_ , they did behave but a journey with them is _never_ dull, you see today−”

And the conversation slipped back to the antics of the blues as if nothing had changed. Carolina made Kimball laugh with descriptions of their silly conversations; groan at Tucker’s jokes; let her relax and just listen to silly stories about the silly people they’d come to know so well. And Carolina was able to relax to the sound of Kimball’s laugh and her interjections, to the knowledge she was there and she was okay.

Tomorrow, things could change. But for now it was just them, talking on their private radio channel and with only each other to focus on.


End file.
